FUE Hair Transplant by MediHair Hair Transplant Melbourne Hair Transplant Information 1:16 AM

FUE Hair Transplant Melbourne

The Follicular Unit Extraction or FUE hair transplantation technique has recently became the popular choice in hair restoration these days. It has attracted the attention of patients who have the fear of going under the knife and living with a liner scar on the donor site. FUE uses an advanced and modern method that provides a permanent answer to your hair loss problem.

Compared to the traditional FUT technique, it is more delicate and complicated to perform. While the procedure takes a challenging operation of two 3 to 5-hour sessions to complete, the results are proven to meet your expectations and will leave incredibly satisfied. This is achieved with the use of highly efficient instruments and the expert hands of Dr. M. Alam of MediHair Hair Transplant Clinic.

FUE VS FUT Hair Transplant Procedure (Image Source)

To give you an idea on the meticulous procedure involved in FUE to give you outstanding hair restoration results, let us take a detailed look at the step-by-step process of this advanced hair transplant technique.

Consultation

As with any cosmetic surgery procedure, the FUE hair transplant begins with a one-on-one consultation with our FUE expert Dr. Alam. This is the best time for Dr. Alam to make a thorough examination of your hair loss. The scalp, density of hairs in the donor site and severity of your condition will be assessed, taking into consideration the existing hair loss and how it will progress in the future, help the doctor determine whether you are a good candidate for hair transplant.

Based on this, a personalized treatment plan will be designed. This will include the number of grafts needed to provide coverage based on your realistic expectations. Once this has been completely discussed, you will be given preoperative instructions to prepare you for the procedure.

Pre-operative Instructions

While the FUE technique is considered to be a minimally-invasive cosmetic procedure, there are preoperative instructions that you need to follow to ensure a speedy healing after your hair transplant treatment.

• Stop taking Vitamin E, B Vitamins, blood-thinning and anti-inflammatory medications two weeks prior to surgery date.
• Abstain from smoking at least one week before the surgery up until two weeks after the procedure.
• No drinking of alcohol at least three days before the surgery.
• No coffee or caffeinated drinks before the day of the surgery.
• For those with light blonde or white hair, it is advised that you dye your hair dark brown. This will make it easier for the doctor and the instrument to properly visualize the hair follicles. Also, it is best to dye the hair at least two days before the surgery to ensure that coloring has already been removed from the scalp.
• Blood tests may be needed before the day of surgery.

Hair Trimming

Hair trimming is an integral process in the FUE technique, as this will provide better ease in extracting the hairs from the donor site. For smaller sessions, a long strip may be shaved that can be easily covered by the existing hair above it. For larger sessions, the entire back and sides of the scalp will be shaved to a 1mm in length. If you are unsure of how short you need to trim your hair, it is best to keep long as the doctor will trim it in its appropriate length on the day of the surgery.

Taking Photographs and Drawing the Donor and Recipient Areas

Photographs of your head taken at different angles will be done before the procedure. This will provide a before and after overview to help the doctor analyze the postoperative results.

After that, the doctor will strategically draw the donor area/s where the donor hairs will be collected to avoid any patchy areas in the donor area. The same will be done on the recipient area.

Anesthesia

Once the plotting of the donor and recipient sites have been done, local anesthesia will be injected on the donor area to make sure that the FUE procedure is almost pain-free. In certain cases, a saline solution will be injected in the donor area to raise the scalp for easier follicle extraction.

Extraction of Follicular Units

The next step involves the actual extraction of the follicular units or hair grafts. For the FUE technique, the doctor will use a microscope and micro-needle to make small circular incisions around the individual hair grafts. This will create an approximately 0.7 to 1 mm micro punches on the donor area, which quickly heals around two to three days. Dr. Alam only uses the latest technology and newest technique to ensure that transection or hair graft damage is kept at a minimum.

The individual grafts are then carefully extracted using a forceps gripping it above the surface. The follicles are then placed in low temperature containers with a specialized solution according to the number of hairs they have. This is to preserve the grafts while the recipient is being prepared for the transplantation by our team of expert hair technicians.

Typically, a gold standard of around 1,200 to 1,500 follicular units can be taken out per session per day. After the extraction, you will be allowed to have a 30-minute break to have a light snack or lunch. 

Follicular Unit Implantation

Once the extraction process has been completed, a local anesthesia will be injected on the recipient area. The doctor will then proceed to strategically make small incisions in predetermined sections of the balding area using a fine needle. The grafts are then placed carefully into the incisions. This is where aesthetic component is highly considered to make sure that the new hair growth will look natural and blend seamlessly with the existing hairs.

Image Source: HairTransplantDoctorUK

Dr. Alam will define the hair depth, angulation and growing direction of each hair graft in relation to the surrounding implanted or existing hairs. The doctor will also place 1 to 2 hair follicular units in the hairline section to achieve a soft and natural look and 3 to 4 hair follicular units behind it to create a fuller look.

This meticulous process and long hours of extraction and transplantation are the reasons why FUE is considered to be more expensive.

Post Surgery and Healing

Image Source: HairTransplantNetwork.com

Once the entire procedure is completed, the doctor will provide you postoperative instructions that you will need to strictly follow.

One advantage of FUE is that because it does not require making a large incision at the back of the head, healing and recovery period is very short and quick. All it needs is to wait for the incisions to properly heal and the scabbing to fall off, which happens between 2 to 5 days.  Also, there is little to no downtime. This means that you can resume to your daily activities immediately after the treatment.

However, it should be noted that final and permanent results will not be seen until after the year. This is because the new hair takes on the natural hair growth cycle.

Getting the desired coverage to your scalp takes patience. But the long hours in the clinic chair and the wait for the results will definitely be worth once you get to see the exceptional results of your FEU hair transplant procedure. And since transplanted hairs are not susceptible to hair loss, you get to enjoy its lush results forever. 

If you are interested in getting FUE hair transplant in Melbourne, contact Dr. M. Alam at enquiry@medihairtransplant.com.au, or 1300 355 325.